The Brahman priest, on hearing this, became angry, and asked the Guru if everybody else was a fool, and he alone, who had abandoned the customs of his forefathers, was wise. He then called on the Guru to tell him what a proper janeu was. The Guru replied:--

By adoring and praising the Name honour and a true thread are obtained.

In this way a sacred thread shall be put on, which will not break, and which will be fit for entrance into God's court.

[1. Âsa ki Wâr. This composition will subsequently be given in extenso, and the meaning of the word wâr explained.

2. Lâkh. Here used for an indefinite number.]

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The Guru then wound up his instruction on the subject as follows:--

There is no string for the sexual organs, there is no string for women;

There is no string for the impure acts which cause your beards to be daily spat upon;

There is no string for the feet, there is no string f or the hands

There is no string for the tongue, there is no string for I the eyes.

Without such strings the Brahman wandereth astray,

Twisteth strings for the neck, and putteth them on others.

He taketh hire for marrying;

He pulleth out a paper, and showeth the fate of the wedded pair.

Hear and see, ye people, it is strange

That, while mentally blind, man is named wise.[1]

We have seen in the Introduction to this work that Sultanpur was then the capital of the Jalandhar Doab. At that time and up to the period of British occupation, land revenue was generally collected in kind. Surveyors and appraisers called Amils were dispatched from the capital to different districts. Amil Jai Ram was appointed to appraise the revenue demand of Talwandi. While one day surveying a corn-field, he observed Nanaki, sister of Nanak, drawing water from a well, and saw that she was fair to look upon. A marriage between them was arranged through the kind offices of Rai Bular. The lady went and lived with her husband at Sultanpur.

Nanak's marriage must have taken place soon after his sister's. It is related in the Janamsakhi which bears the name of Mani Singh, that Nanak was married at the age of fourteen. His marriage, as is usual in the East, was arranged for him as a matter of religious duty by his parents. He was

[1. Âsa ki Wâr.

2 Under the Emperor Akbar it was often optional for the husbandman to pay either in money or in kind. Aîn-i-Akbari, Book III, Aîn 13.]

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